The Jancis Robinson Story | Mission Blind Tasting | Wine writing competition

Cirò – the tasting notes

Menat's qvevri cellar in Melissa, Calabria

This collection of 41 tasting notes complements Cirò – the past and Cirò – the future.

Notes from a flight of seven wines from different producers spanning 1969 to 2013 are followed by tasting reports on some of the most important producers, listed in the order in which they are mentioned in Walter's two introductory articles, as below, with the wines presented in the order they were tasted, but you can change the order within the groups.

Librandi
Ippolito 1845
Sergio Arcuri
'A Vita
Cataldo Calabretta
Menat

The historic flight of wines

Deep amber. Deep smoky nose of Sun-Maid raisins and treacle with...

Very dark amber. Very dense and deep nose with notes of ginger...

Deep amber ruby. Smoky and rasiny with subdued fruit underneath...

Deep, almost impenetrable ruby. Dusty oak, like oak sawdust, and...

Brownish ruby suggesting accelerated evolution. Ripe, slightly...

Mature amber-ruby with bricky rim. Deep nose with notes of...

Just mid ruby which is showing some development but in this...

Librandi

100% Greco di Bianco. This new line is aimed at restaurants...

90% Chardonnay, 10% Sauvignon Blanc. Hand harvested. Entry-level...

100% Mantonico. The variety achieves good alcohol levels in the...

Gaglioppo with 10% Cabernet Franc. Some tanks are bled and some...

Apparently, rosato is the most-consumed wine in Calabria. 100%...

100% Gaglioppo. Very short maceration time of four to five days...

A considerable part of the vineyard that is the source for this...

100% Magliocco. 14 days on the skins and aged for 12 months in...

60% Gaglioppo, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Lustrous mid ruby...

100% Mantonico. From late-harvested grapes that have been dried...

Ippolito 1845

The wines...

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